During his speech at the recent virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate, King Salman stressed the importance of achieving sustainable development.

He pointed out that this would require a comprehensive methodology that considered the different circumstances of countries around the world.

The Saudi king also noted that enhancing the level of international cooperation would be the optimal solution to meeting the global challenges faced by climate change.

The summit was hosted by US President Joe Biden to catalyze international ambition to address the climate crisis by bringing together world leaders to galvanize efforts to keep the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.

Addressing conference delegates, King Salman highlighted Saudi Arabia’s sustainability efforts as part of Vision 2030, such as the launch of the country’s National Environment Strategy, which has set a target for half of the Kingdom’s energy needs to come from clean renewable sources by 2030.

During Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the G20 presidency last year, the Kingdom advocated many strategies designed to protect the world from further climatic deterioration due to carbon emissions and other environmental issues. It also advocated the need to adopt the notion of the circular carbon economy, as evidenced by the launch of two international initiatives to curb land degradation and to protect coral reefs.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently announced the Saudi Green and the Middle East Green initiatives, both of which are aimed at cutting carbon output in the region by more than 10 percent of the global contribution.

In addition, the crown prince announced the signing of seven new solar power projects in the country as part of a national push toward renewable energy under the Vision 2030 reform plan. Among the projects, the Sakaka plant in Jouf represents the first steps to utilize renewable energy in the Kingdom. The seven planned solar farms will produce more than 3,600 megawatts of electricity, enough to power over 600,000 homes and reduce greenhouse emissions by at least 7 million tons.

The Kingdom is very much a believer in the so-called circular carbon economy, due to its positive impact on reducing global emissions. Saudi Aramco has undertaken several initiatives to deploy advanced technology solutions that provide more reliable access to affordable energy, while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions. Aramco is considered one of the pioneer oil companies in the world for its use of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, to reduce emissions by monitoring energy consumption and optimizing operations, improving seismic processing and analysis, optimizing crude oil recovery methods, and enhancing oil well productivity.

The Saudi Energy Ministry recently announced that the Kingdom would be joining the US, Canada, Norway, and Qatar in establishing a new net zero producers’ forum, a platform for oil- and gas-producing countries to discuss ways to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the goal of achieving its net zero emission targets.

I believe that Saudi Arabia is keen to support global efforts in connection with protecting the world from pollution caused by CO2 emissions and other sources.

The Saudi Green Initiative is evidence of that commitment, as it will work to increase the percentage of protected land to more than 30 percent, exceeding the international target of 17 percent per country. It will also reduce global carbon emissions by more than 4 percent through the development of renewable energy projects that will generate 50 percent of the Kingdom’s electricity production by 2030.

• Talat Zaki Hafiz is an economist, financial analyst and a board member of the Saudi Financial Association. Twitter: @TalatHafiz